Alexander Siddig played subtle and scheming Doran Martell in Game of Thrones.
Photograph: Sarah Lee for the Guardian

The success of HBO’s Game of Thrones has seen broadcasters rush to bring viewers stories on the same epic scale: The Last Kingdom is reaching its climax on BBC2, a new take on Beowulf is coming to ITV next year, and a retelling of the legend of Troy is in the works.

Now radio is getting in on the act, as an ambitious series blends politics and adventure and promises to give the devious citizens of Westeros a run for their money in the danger stakes. It even stars Alexander Siddig, who appeared as Game of Throne’s subtle and scheming Doran Martell.

Tumanbay, a 10-part story of upheaval, revolution and romance set in a corrupt fictional city, starts on Radio 4 on Wednesday. Most radio dramas are broadcast over the course of a week or, as with last Christmas’s War and Peace, in a day. By contrast, Tumanbay – loosely based on the Mamluk sultanate that controlled Egypt, the Levant and Hejaz until 1517 – will ask its audience to return for 10 weeks to find out whether the inhabitants of its fictional city thrive or die.

Tumanbay: peace is an illusion. Watch a preview of the epic ten-part drama inspired by the Mamluk slave dynasty of Egypt.

The show is a risk, admits series director, John Dryden, who co-wrote the show with Mike Walker. “We haven’t done something on this sort of scale before,” he said. “There’s a reason there’s never been a show like The Wire on radio,” said Walker. “Because when a story is very complex the audience needs visual cues. We were really aware that you had to make the different storylines clear and throw in narration when that was needed, because the last thing you want is for the audience to be going: ‘Wait, who? What? What’s happening?.’”

But radio does have its benefits, he says. “The great thing about radio is that it allows the audience to participate to a greater extent because they’re more active in using their imaginations.”

For all the comparisons with Game of Thrones, Walker says that Tumanbay draws its main inspiration from a very different source. “I’m a huge admirer of the Arabian Nights. I love those stories, they’re one of the main founts of storytelling. John and I wanted to tell a tale that had that sort of sweep.”